What Was Missing
by bobkitty1123
Summary: What happened after Bubblegum and Marceline if Finn hadn't called them back. One-shot. Bubblegum/Marceline.


**A/N -** I love this pairing so much and while I watching 'What Was Missing', I wrote this.

Disclaimer: I don't own Adventure Time.

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Maybe I shouldn't have spit on Bonnibel.

The look on her face, as she turned and stomped away, made me realize that it did nothing to help our friendship. In fact, my actions might have finally forced us to reached that point of no return. I sighed inwardly as I realized there would be no redemption this time, no kiss and make-up.

"Ugh, I'm out of here too." I heard myself mutter.

I felt like I was on autopilot as I floated towards the mouth of the canyon. At the time, I didn't notice that Bonnie had gone the same way. I had assumed that she just left through her door. I guess she, like myself, wasn't ready to go home just yet.

As I floated through the pass, my mind was clouded by my own stupidity. I couldn't believe that I sang that song to Bonnie—and in front of Finn and Jake.

From the look on her face just before we had another go at the whole band thing, I knew everything I needed to know about her feelings. She looked horrified, and not mildly so. If I thought we could return to our previous relationship, I would be fooling myself.

I sunk onto a rock, trying to shake the memories of the last hour from my mind.

I had almost told her that I wanted to kiss her in a song.

I was an idiot.

That was when I heard it—someone crying.

It sounded vaguely familiar in a disturbing way. Almost four years ago, I had heard that same crying. I had been holding the person in my arms, letting them get snot and tears all over my shoulder. I forgot what she had been crying about all those years ago, but now I knew exactly why Bonnibel was upset—it was all my fault.

I snuck around the boulder that was blocking her from my view. I could see her standing by a creek. She pulled off her coat and threw it in the water. At first I thought she was getting rid of it, but then I realized she was washing it.

After a minute of watching, I stepped out. "I'm sorry."

Bonnie jumped a near foot off the ground and spun to look at me. "If you were sorry, you wouldn't have done it in the first place."

"Don't be stupid, Bonnie." I snapped, instantly regretting my choice of words. "I seem to recall a little candy servant who had to apologize to the queen of vampires because in an attempt to impress her, broke her axe."

"I apologized!" Bonnibel snapped.

"I know. I'm not mad about that anymore. That was a long time ago, but you apologized for your mistake, and I'm apologizing for mine."

"And that makes it okay?"

"I never said it did." I returned, trying to keep my voice level.

"Whatever. Save your sorrys for someone who cares." Bonnie snapped, shaking out her coat. Water sprayed all over both of us. I already had a nasty retort on my tongue about her doing that on purpose, but I bit my tongue so hard I tasted blood.

"You don't even care anymore, Bonnie?" I asked, desperation leaking in my voice.

"You obviously don't either, Marceline!" She returned, her tone bitter. "You never called or wrote ever! If you had cared, you would have tried to fix our relationship!"

"Glob, don't say it like that, Bonnie. People are going to think we were together."

"You wanted to be, didn't you?"

I just stared at her, open-jawed. I never realized she had discovered my true feelings for her. I had been careful to hide them from her of all people. Of course, I had confided in a few of my vampire friends, but they just teased me about it. Maybe one of them had revealed my crush on my best friend, Bonnibel.

Then everything changed. She was becoming the princess. Overnight she had changed from a lowly servant to the heir of the entire kingdom. King Peppermint had noticed her leadership skills and her talent for science, naming her Princess Bubblegum before finally passing away.

And I lost my best friend.

Partly because she no longer had time to go frog-catching in the pond or play cards with the royal bakers, and partly because I reacted badly to her sudden monarch status.

I was the queen since my birth—if you could call it that.

Since my mother passed away, I became the Vampire Queen and thus there was no drastic change. With Bonnie, I watched her become more arrogant and bossy, and I said something about it. It blew into a fight that was similar to the one we were currently having.

"I didn't…" I stammered.

"Don't even lie." Bonnibel snapped.

"I wasn't going to." I returned. If I couldn't lie, she couldn't either. "And don't play all sweet and innocent, you liked me as well."

"Glob, are we still in grade school, Marceline? I _liked_ you?" She paused. "I loved you!"

I just stared at her.

"Then you freaked out about me becoming a princess and everything changed. You were a queen! I thought you could accept my new title. It didn't change who I was."

"But it did."

She stopped and looked at me. Her face was shocked. "How?" She managed finally.

"You became bossy and arrogant and you had no time for me anymore."

Then we both lapsed into silence. Neither of us knew exactly what to say. Were there more apologies to be had? Or would more discussion just lead to more unnecessary fighting? As much as someone looking in might assume we enjoyed fighting, we really didn't. It pained both of us to no end.

"I have time now." She said quietly, suddenly close.

I looked up. She had walked up next to me. Together we looked upward at the stars.

"You're still arrogant." I said, allowing my smirk to creep into my tone.

"Is that why you think I think you're supposed to be perfect."

"Well, duh." I hissed. "Suddenly, it was 'princesses don't touch slimy things' and princesses don't hang out with the staff'. I was a queen and I did all those things. Did that make me wrong somehow?"

Bubblegum paled like she had earlier.

"I didn't mean to make you think that way, Marceline. I looked up to you." Bonnibel paused and took a deep breath. "Then I was thrusted into all this responsibility. I didn't know what to do or think. I panicked…I changed."

"So you admit it!" I shouted.

"Heartfelt apology here, Marcie… Not helping."

"Sorry." I mumbled, feeling stupid. Not we were going to fight some more. Instead, she surprised me by laughing. It rang out clearly through the air. I couldn't help but join in.

By the time it was over, we found ourselves kissing.

Somewhere between my stupid comment and the moment our laughter petered out, Bonnie had turned to, gently cupped my cheek, and brought me in for a chaste kiss. But that's not the way I roll, so I grabbed the back of her head and kissed her deeply. I was almost surprised to find her responding enthusiastically.

"I take it you forgive me?" I asked eventually.

"For everything." She said, taking my hand in hers. She tilted her head upward and looked at the stars. "Well, not everything. You owe me a new sweater."

"Can I just give you twenty bucks so you can replace it?"

"Yeah, sure." She smiled, but it fell. "I'm sorry that I'm arrogant and bossy."

"Not anymore than I am." I shrugged.

"You are pretty arrogant." She returned, smiling.

I rolled my eyes at her. We stayed like that for a while—sharing chaste kisses and giggling at nothing in particular. It was a bit too mushy for my taste, but I liked it none the less. I wasn't always a tomboy. Sometimes I enjoyed romance and other girly things.

Eventually Bonnie said, "The Door Lord took the shirt you gave me."

I looked at her in surprise. "You still have that?"

"I wear it to bed every night." She admitted.

"He took my axe." I told her.

"Yeah, I know." Bonnie responded.

"The one you broke." I told her after a moment. "I fixed it—new strings and everything. And despite no longer being broken, it has always reminded me of you. Whenever I missed you, I'd play it."

"You're a sap." She said after a minute, laughing.

"Am not!"

"Am too."

She kissed me and I no longer argued.

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**A/N - **Reveiw please!


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